If You Want to Go Viral, Stop Checking Your Stats

Your stats are killing your writing dream.

Writing is a mind game.

You have to feel well to write well. For the past two months, I have been unable to write. Whenever I opened Medium, I stared at the blank page, and my fingers couldn’t move. I felt empty — there was nothing to say. So I took a break to recharge.

Now, I’m back to writing eight articles per week.

The only difference was my mindset. My writing style didn’t change, I certainly didn’t practice more, and I still write on the same platform. Except now I feel energized, ready to conquer the world — okay, ready to conquer Medium.

Still, I had to investigate what destroyed my mind game. It wasn’t long until I realized that, among other things, my worst enemy was my stats.

When I started on Medium, I was obsessed with my stats. After a viral article in June, they were in the sky: I got over 30k views in a single month. That’s every writer’s dream! However, the dream ended, and things slowed down. My stats went back to normal, and I couldn’t bring them back up.

My stats drove me crazy.

Checking my stats became a hurtful ritual.

I write on Medium daily, so it’s safe to say I put a tremendous effort in this platform. Still, most of my articles don’t go viral — many articles get less than 100 views. It was painful to watch this hard work go to waste.

After some weeks, I noticed a shift in my motivation. I felt anxious to write, overthought every single word, and obsessed with writing the perfect article — one that would finally get many views.

My stats killed the fun in writing. Suddenly, I hated the process of writing.

Yes, views and money are important. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. But if that’s your main priority, it’ll kill your motivation and, next thing you know, you quit because “it didn’t work.”

Focus on what you can control.

The problem with your stats is that you can’t control them. Sometimes, the best articles don’t get many views. Other times, you’ll write effortlessly, and it’ll go viral. You can’t predict virality.

When you focus on what you can’t control, you’re powerless. There’s nothing you can do to change your scenario.

The only way to fix this problem is to focus on what you can control.

Instead of obsessing with your results, focus on writing — improve your process, study, read successful writers, and show up. Write as much as you can and hit publish. When you publish often, you create a relationship with your reader, so they know what to expect from you. Besides, it makes you a better writer because you exercise your writing muscle.

Your stats are a great tool to tell you what works. I’m not saying you should never check your stats — on the contrary, you should use them as a tool to double down on what works.

Still, you have no control over your stats. If you obsess with them, you’ll put too much energy into the wrong things. You’ll feel frustrated, and ultimately, you may even give up. Most statistics are vanity metrics. I had my first successful article before I had 1000 followers — what matters isn’t the followers but the quality of the article.

There’s no secret: great stats are a result of great writing. So don’t look for the magic formula that will give you more reads. Instead, write great articles and show up consistently. This way, your stats will skyrocket in no time.

If you’re new to Medium, this course provides the framework for achieving your first $1000. The course also includes access to a community of writers so we can exchange experiences and grow together. (Disclaimer: this is an affiliate link, and I will be compensated if you purchase it.)